![\"notten's\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/nottens.jpeg\")
<\/a>From Cape Town<\/strong> we flew into Mpumalanga<\/strong> International Airport (yes, that\u2019s spelled correctly, I think they forgot to buy a vowel) in Nelspruit, then took a two hour ride to Notten\u2019s Bush Camp<\/strong> in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve<\/strong> in Kruger National Park<\/strong> for the \u2018safari\u2019 portion of the trip.\u00a0There are many Bush Camps in Kruger Park, but I can\u2019t imagine any being better than the one where we stayed \u2013 Notten\u2019s.\u00a0 It\u2019s family owned and operated; the current proprietors are David and Mia Notten<\/strong>; it was David\u2019s grandfather who bought the land in 1964 as a family retreat; David\u2019s father and mother, Gilly & Bambi (no, I\u2019m not making these names up) opened their home up and started the camp in 1986 and subsequently handed it over to David and Mia.\u00a0 There are some great family photos of the three generations on the wall in the meeting room.\u00a0 We saw pictures of Susie, who heads the serving staff, when she was a baby with her mom and dad and<\/a> grandfather, who was hired by David\u2019s grandfather back in the 60s.\u00a0 There\u2019s a picture of Thomas, our game drive \u2018tracker\u2019, who arrived from Mozambique at 13 and started working at Notten\u2019s as a gardener \u2013 he\u2019s now 43.\u00a0 David\u2019s cousin, Dale also works at the camp and cooked us a delightful barbeque on our first night.\u00a0 David and Mia, both personable and friendly were always on hand to accommodate our every need, and what made us feel most welcome here was that everyone immediately treated us like \u2018one of the family\u2019 \u2013 a really nice feeling when you\u2019re 10,000 miles from home in the African bush.<\/p>\nA unique feature of Notten\u2019s was that there was no, or little, electricity.\u00a0 There was one plug per room to charge cameras or computers, but all the lighting was by kerosene lamp or candle.\u00a0 No television, no clocks.\u00a0 We started out missing the conveniences of lights, electrical outlets everywhere and a little TV at night to catch up on the news, but after four nights we ended up missing the charm of our candle-lite room and the sounds of the savanna at night.<\/p>\n
The food was incredible \u2013 I\u2019m going to try to duplicate their bananas French Toast when I get home, but I have a feeling I won\u2019t quite capture the essence of it.\u00a0 Their lemon meringue pie was like nothing I\u2019ve ever tasted . . . only better.\u00a0 OK, I think you get the point, the accommodations and staff were awesome, let\u2019s move on to the reason we went there \u2013 the animals.<\/p>\n We arrive in camp around 2:30 in the afternoon and one hour later we were on our first \u2018game drive\u2019.\u00a0 Game drives are conducted by a \u2018tracker\u2019 driving a 6-8 passenger open-air Land Cruiser, with a \u2018spotter\u2019 sitting in a seat attached to the hood.\u00a0 A typical game drive lasts about three hours and covers miles of dirt and off roads, throughout the savanna and bush \u2013 wherever the animals happen to be.<\/p>\n We first encountered a male, female and baby rhinoceros<\/strong> and drove to within 15-20 feet of them and watched them grazing \u2013 they gave us a casual glance and went back to the job at hand – eating.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter we came upon four lions<\/strong>, three male, one female; we were told that the males fought over the female and we saw the \u2018winner\u2019 and the female go off to . . . make more lions.\u00a0 One of the spurned suitors dejectedly limped off into the bush.\u00a0 We first heard the sound, then saw a cloud of dust in the distance, we then witness a herd of approximately 400 Cape Buffalo<\/strong> stampeding right past us.\u00a0 When the last one had passed us, we saw the reason they were running \u2013 there was a leopard trailing them waiting for a baby Cape to get separated from the herd, thus providing the leopard with dinner.\u00a0 But the herd was keeping a close eye on the calves, so no Buffalo Burgers for the leopard tonight.\u00a0 We saw the leopard disappear into the brush and heard growls and hisses and then saw a honey badger<\/strong> running out of the brush and the leopard smugly walking out behind him with what the honey badger thought was going to be his dinner, a large king rat<\/strong> that he had killed.\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas, our tracker, told us that a honey badger, pound What an incredible first drive; we join the \u2018Big Five, First Drive\u2019<\/strong> Club \u2013 I just made that club up, but amazingly on our first game drive we saw all of the \u2018Big 5\u2019 animals (Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo and Rhino – members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size).<\/p>\n We had two more days in the Game Reserve \u2013 a game drive in the early morning (6:30 \u2013 9:30) then back for breakfast, and a game drive in the afternoon (3:30 \u2013 6:30).\u00a0 Aside from more \u2018Big 5\u2019 sightings, we saw, hippos, giraffe, impala, baboons, wart hogs, wildebeest, hyena a myriad of small furry animals and birds that we\u2019re still trying to figure out what they were.\u00a0 We had a leopard come right next to our vehicle \u2013 I literally could have reached down and petted him \u2013 but I thought better of it.<\/p>\n On our last drive, as night was falling, the three Land Cruisers from Notten\u2019s all stopped out in a clearing in the savanna for cocktails and appetizers around a campfire.\u00a0 A full moon rise added to the magic of the evening as David pointed out the \u2018Southern Cross<\/strong>\u2019 constellation \u2013 the first time I\u2019d ever seen it.\u00a0 The Cosby, Still & Nash<\/strong> song by the same name echoed in my head . . .<\/p>\n When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,<\/i><\/p>\n You understand now why you came this way<\/i><\/p>\n \u2018Cause the truth you might be runnin\u2019 from is so small,<\/i><\/p>\n But it\u2019s as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day<\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/i>We were<\/i> promised another day, but not at Notten\u2019s, our promise was as big as Victoria Falls<\/strong>, which was our next destination.\u00a0 The next morning we were off for Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n Next Monday: African Diary – Part 4 \u00a0 Victoria Falls<\/strong> and Out of Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n HAVE YOU SUBSCRIBED YET?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow (still in Africa) All animal photos are mine . . . but you can look at them. From Cape Town we flew into Mpumalanga International Airport (yes, that\u2019s spelled correctly, I think they forgot to buy a … read more<\/a>Dinners were a special event at Notten\u2019s \u2013 tables in the eating area, which were separated for breakfast and lunch into tables for 4-6, where all pushed together in the evening so everyone in camp (20-24 max) ate together at one long table, thus promoting the sharing of stories about where people were from, places they\u2019d been and places they were going.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>for pound, is probably the fiercest animal in Africa, and that he could have kicked the leopards ass, but perhaps he had rat for lunch, so he reluctantly let the leopard have it.\u00a0 It was now dark as Thomas headed the safari through a maze of dirt roads, without streetlights I might add, back towards camp.\u00a0 After driving about 20 minutes, he stopped; we knew every time he stopped it was because he spotted something he wanted us to see.\u00a0 We just sat there in the dark wondering what we were supposed to be looking at.\u00a0 \u201cLook over there,\u201d he said, as he flashed a spot light to our right.\u00a0 We turned and no more than 15 feet from us was a large bull elephant just standing by the roadside.<\/p>\n<\/a>The next day I took the opportunity between drives to do a \u2018bush walk\u2019 \u2013 it was just Thomas and me wandering through the bush, he is obligated to take a rifle with him on all such walks.\u00a0 As we walked along, we came across 6-8 giraffe, he showed me the tracks and scat of various animals as well as some interesting vegetation, like a weed that you can wash your hands with \u2013 it acts just like soap when you rub it between your hands.\u00a0 As we walked along through the bush I asked a number of questions about the flora and fauna.\u00a0 My last<\/i> question was, \u201cHave you ever had to use your gun?\u201d\u00a0 To which Thomas, stopped, looked me in the eye and replied in a very somber way, \u201cYes, just last week.\u201d\u00a0 I froze in my tracts as I now imagined all kinds of animals charging us and Thomas firing at them until he ran out of bullets.\u00a0 \u201cWhat were the circumstances?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 He replied calmly, but in a serious tone, \u201cLast week there was a man who asked too many questions, so I shot him.\u201d\u00a0 Then he broke out in a big smile and told me he\u2019s never had to use the gun.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n